2019-02-12 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                              12 FEBRUARY 2019


 Noosa Council initiated a motion through the Local Government Association of Queensland
   conference calling on the State government to set up a Reference Group to consider the
   challenges from online accommodation. The State government subsequently established a
   Reference Group and Mayor Wellington was one of two local government representatives on
   that State Reference Group.
 Mayor Wellington provided the Sustainable Tourism Stakeholder Reference Group with an
   update on the activities of the State Reference Group and also the initiatives being
   undertaken by other jurisdictions across Australia and overseas to manage this issue.
 Council is endeavouring to find the best way to manage the issue. (A separate report on the
   issue of on-line accommodation providers is on the Council’s February 2019 agenda).

C.   The impact of increased tourism on local traffic, parking and transport
The group raised concerns about growing tourism visitation and its impact on local traffic and
parking, particularly in high tourism localities and at particular times of the year. In considering
this issue, the Sustainable Tourism Stakeholder Reference Group noted that international and
interstate visitors anecdotally did not have the same impact on local traffic and parking as day
trippers.

The following information was provided to the Reference Group:
 Noosa Council provided an update to the Sustainable Tourism Stakeholder Reference Group
   on the ongoing development of its Transport Strategy. In addition, several members of the
   Sustainable Tourism Stakeholder Reference Group have been incorporated into the Council’s
   Transport Strategy Steering Group (Tourism Noosa, Zero Emissions Noosa, Hastings Street
   Association and Noosa Junction Association).
 The Sustainable Tourism Stakeholder Reference Group was provided with a detailed briefing
   on the Go Noosa 2018 Christmas holiday period proposed traffic management initiatives.
   Positive feedback was received in relation to the proposed initiatives.
 Further briefings will be provided to the Sustainable Tourism Stakeholder Reference Group
   on the outcomes of the 2018 Christmas trials.

D.   The impact of increased visitation on particular localities
The Reference Group raised concerns about the concentration of visitors in some areas. There
are two sides to this equation – the impact on the area with high tourism visitation and secondly,
the opportunity to disperse visitors to other parts of the Shire to spread the economic benefits.
While there was a particular focus on the impact of high visitation to the Hastings Street precinct,
the significant impact of large numbers of visitors to the Noosa North Shore during the Easter
2018 high tides was also discussed. Opportunities for development of tourism in the hinterland
were also identified by the group.

The following information was provided to the Reference Group:
 Council has established a Teewah Cooloola Working Group to address the significant
   problems that occurred in Easter 2018 with over visitation to the area. That group has met on
   a number of occasions and is making excellent progress and includes members from the
   Gympie Shire Council and Rainbow Beach Chamber of Commerce as well as local
   stakeholders and QPWS staff. In particular, the group helped co-ordinate the response to
   high tides around the 2018 Christmas period to ensure that there was not a repeat of the
   2018 Easter problems. That group is continuing to meet to consider recommendations to the
   State.
 Tourism Noosa provided the Sustainable Tourism Stakeholder Reference Group with an
   update on its hinterland promotional strategies including the Noosa Country Drive. Tourism
   Noosa is actively pushing tourism opportunities in the hinterland to diversify the tourism
   product and add to the visitor experience.

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